Council discusses town budget, projects

The Glastonbury Town Council discussed the spending plan for 2015-16 at its meeting on Feb. 24.

At Glastonbury's Annual Town Meeting on Jan. 28, a combined budget of $153.6 million – a 2.62 percent increase – was presented. The town operations budget has a proposed increase of 2.88-percent over the current year.

Town Manager Richard Johnson said there are seven major factors that comprise the budget. Wage adjustment is the largest, and the increase proposed is just over $500,000, or 1.31-percent.

"Since 2004, the full-time head count of the staff has been reduced by 8 percent," Johnson said. "At the same time, we've taken on new facilities, programs and services, and have been able to improve our service delivery."

Combined insurances, Johnson said, account for a .34-percent increase, due largely to a very favorable rate for health insurance. Pensions, however, have been a challenge.

"The town has done a great job in responding to changes we needed to make in our pension fund, by changing a number of our assumptions," Johnson said, adding that the changes have protected the long-term funding of pensions, but has also increased the annual spending.

The pensions account for a .88-percent increase. Other post-employment increases add up to .16-percent.

Fuel costs have dropped, and that presents some potential savings for the town. The town currently budgets $3.25 for unleaded gasoline, but has locked in a price of $2.26 through Dec. 31, 2017. The result is a proposed budget decrease of .30-percent.

All other accounts add just under $88,000, for an increase of .23-percent.

The council also heard from some town departments on capital improvement needs.

One item in the Capital Improvement Program as a proposed part of the budget is a 500-square foot addition to the building that houses Glastonbury's Youth and Family Services. Director of Human Services Durlene Mikkelson said the staff there is "using every nook and cranny" in the building for its many programs. Mikkelson added that more children could be serviced with the added room.

"Kids do so well in groups and learn from each other," she said. "We would use that for a group room." She added that the popular parenting courses could also be run there, among other many potential uses.

Chief Michael Thurz of the Glastonbury Volunteer Fire Department said the demand for services has risen during day time hours, and that staff increases may be necessary. He said that 43-percent of the 950 fire calls per year fall between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., and the number of firefighters who work out of town has put stress on the daytime coverage.

"We're not only responding to fires," he said, "we're going to fire alarms, people with water leaking into their house, and motor vehicle accidents."

What the chief proposes is the hiring of a few staffers for daytime hours, in a phased approach, beginning with two part-time employees. The chief added that the department is also working hard to recruit younger members, but its difficult, because many are looking for career opportunities.

Another part of the plan, Thurz said, is that the staffers would check the equipment daily, which isn't currently done.

The police department is also looking to start its own K-9 program. "The major factor that has affected this has been our staffing," said Chief David Caron, partially due to the 22-week training session for officers, which would take them off of the regular roster.

"I'm hoping that we might be in a position later in the summer, or maybe the fall, to take a look at it," Caron said, adding that he is also looking into programs that donate dogs to departments. "We are hopeful that we are going to move forward with this program."

The Town Council will discuss the budget again at a workshop on March 4 and the council meeting on March 10, and a final budget hearing will take place on March 24, at which council action is expected.